“I had cancer when I was six. Now I run ultra marathons”

Gavin O’Donovan was six years old when he accidentally bit into a spoon while eating a bowl of cereal, and the resulting cracked tooth saved his life.

His mother brought him straight to the dentist, but the young boy was so scared that he refused to sit in the dentist’s chair and so was taken to hospital.

During a routine examination at the Bon Secours in Cork, it was discovered that Gavin had stage-four cancer. If his condition hadn’t been detected then, he may not have lived to celebrate his seventh birthday.

Now fully recovered, Gavin is involved with this year’s Daffodil Day, the annual fundraising campaign of the Irish Cancer Society(ICS), which is in its 27th year.

“When I was brought to the hospital, doctors discovered my blood pressure was sky high,” he says. “After investigating further, they found a lump in my stomach that was possibly cancerous. So when the tooth was removed, I was referred to Crumlin Hospital where it was confirmed that I had a tumour in my kidney.

‘I don’t remember much about how my parents reacted, but can only assume they were extremely shocked and upset as I literally had no symptoms whatsoever – apart from night sweats. So to be told I had a very advanced tumour must have been horrendous.